1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanner system using a scanning device that can be connected to a computer, a scanner control device for controlling the scanning device by remote control, and a recording medium having a program recorded therein for making the computer function as the scanner control device.
The scanning device refers not only to scanning devices used as computer peripheral devices, but also to scanning devices incorporated in information-related devices such as digital duplicators and facsimiles.
2. Description of Related Arts
When a scanning device is used for obtaining image data of a desired area of a sheet original or a book-style original, it is occasionally impossible to scan only the necessary area. In such a case, after the whole image is once scanned, an operation for cutting out the necessary part is carried out on the computer screen, and then the image data is stored in a prescribed memory area in a desired file format. Or, the whole image that has been scanned is once saved in a prescribed memory area of the computer in a desired file format, and the saved file is read out afterwards so that the necessary part is cut out and then saved again.
Meanwhile, an example in which a scanner 100 is used is shown in FIG. 15. The scanner 100 is capable of having an original of up to A3 in size placed on its scanning window 101. In this example, an image displayed on a monitor screen 111 of a computer 110 when an A4-sized book 103 is opened and only the right page thereof is scanned is shown.
Since the scanner 100 has its main scanning direction being the direction of an arrow A, and its subscanning direction being the direction of an arrow B, when the right page of the book 103 is scanned, an image that has been turned 90° from the original image is displayed on the monitor screen 111. If a figure or a photograph whose vertical and horizontal directions cannot be judged from the appearance is saved in such a state, it is impossible to determine which is vertical or horizontal when the saved file is opened later. In addition, for example, when the scanned image is a document and is to be processed by the OCR processing, it needs to be rotated 90° rightward. Therefore, when an image is turned on its side, or turned upside down, generally the image is subjected to a rotating processing on the computer in the same way as in the case of cutting out an image.
In order to carry out the operation for cutting out a necessary part of the scanned image data and the operation for turning the image on the computer as described above, the operator needs to switch the screen alternately between a scanning instruction screen of the scanner driver and an image processing screen for processing the image as mentioned above. Otherwise, after completion of all the scanning instructions and saving the data in a file, the operator needs to read out the file again so as to process the image as mentioned above. For this reason, the number of operations increases, which is inconvenient. Also, when the whole image of an original including an extremely large quantity of data such as a photograph is to be saved, for example, in a floppy disc, it is often the case that the data is too much to be saved in the floppy disc, or even if the data can be saved, images of other originals cannot be additionally saved.
In the case of a network scanner that transmits image data to a computer via a network, when the image data includes a photo image having a large quantity of data, due to the excessive load on the network, the transmission takes such a long time that it hinders transmission between other devices.
Meanwhile, when image data of an original is scanned by a scanning device so as to be fetched by a computer connected to the scanner, first, the original is set on the scanning device, scanning condition setting is carried out thereafter on the operation screen of a scanner driver installed in the computer. Then, a scan execution instruction is directed from the operation screen, thereby making the scanning device operate scanning.
However, in today's offices, a plural number of computers have been connected with one another through a network so as to share the use of a scanning device. Accordingly, in many cases, such offices locate the scanning device apart from the computers. In addition, an increasing number of recent digital duplicators and facsimile machines are provided with a network scanner function in their scanner sections. In order to avoid noises, such digital duplicators and facsimiles are placed in rooms separate from the computers in many cases. Accordingly, in order to feed a computer with images of originals by such a scanning device, the operator needs to shuttle a number of times between the computer and the scanning device that are placed apart from each other for setting up the devices and setting originals, which is inefficient.
Since digital duplicators and recent scanning devices are provided with a sheet feeder that automatically feeds sheet originals one by one for scanning, they can be operated by remote control from the side of a computer. However, when the original is a book, the binding part between the spread two pages is likely to be apart from the surface of the scanning window of the scanning device. As a result, inconvenience as the following tends to arise: a part of the image in the vicinity of the binding part has distortion, which brings the part into a blurred condition, or the part is darkened due to its farness from the scanning light. In order to avoid such problems, another operator needs to press the book from its top so as to keep the binding part of the book in contact with the scanning window during the scanning.
An example in which an operator carries out scanning of a sheet original by using a scanning device is explained (Refer to FIG. 16). First, the operator activates the operation screen of a scanner driver installed in a computer (Step R1), then the operator moves to the scanning device to set an original in the sheet feeder (Step R2). The operator then returns to the computer to set scanning conditions and execute scanning (Step R3). After completion of the scanning, the operator moves to the scanning device to withdraw the original so as not to leave it as an obstacle for other users (Step R4). Then, the operator returns to the computer to create a file to store the image of the original and save the image data (Step R5).
In the above case, the operator needs to travel from the computer to the scanning device or from the scanning device to the computer in every interval between the steps, that is, the operator needs to move four times. Besides that, when the original is a book as mentioned above, each of the computer and the scanning device needs one operator. Furthermore, in the case of each of the devices being located separately in a different room, one more shuttling for checking whether the original has been set or not is additionally required.